"Web to web," instructor Denita Turner told him. "Don't do what we call fish tail. You shake hands with a woman just like you do with a man."

Drummond, who volunteered to go before the class of his fellow NBA rookies, passed the test.

"He did wonderfully," said Turner, who has been part the league's Rookie Transition Program for 15 years. "He has that great smile, it's going to take him a long way. We don't try to change people. We just try to show them how to switch up. Nothing makes you feel better than knowing the right thing to do in a new situation — it's great for your self-esteem."

The rookies who gathered earlier this month at the Hamilton Park Hotel for the program's four days of seminars, including Drummond and Jeremy Lamb from UConn, and Anthony Davis from Kentucky, the No.1 pick in the draft, know their way around on the basketball court.

But many of the other aspects of being a professional basketball player will be brand new to them. From the proper way to eat soup in a fancy restaurant to the wisest ways to manage the millions of dollars that will be suddenly thrust upon them, the NBA tries to cover it all.

"I'm learning something new every day," said Drummond, as he walked into a class that explained the business goals of the NBA. "The ins and outs of what to do off the court. It's a whole new life."

Training camp starts in September. Drummond, from Middletown, will be in Detroit with the Pistons, who chose him ninth. Lamb, UConn's top scorer last season, was chosen 12th by Houston.

"I haven't had a chance to experience all that much," Lamb said. "I don't really have a lot of questions or concerns. I'm just going through this with an open mind and learn as much as I can."

On a Friday night two weeks ago, the rookies heard from motivational speaker Chris Herren, formerly of the Celtics, whose career was derailed by a heroin addiction. Herren says he has been clean since 2008.

Saturday was a long day. Kathy Behrens, a UHart grad and the NBA's executive VP of social responsibility and player programs, barked once to "sit up straight and pay attention."

"We're giving them a lot of information," she said after her talk. "We don't expect them to remember all of it, but we do want them to come away understanding that they aren't alone. We have people and programs in place to help them."

For instance, Behrens urged players, when they come to New York, to stop by the league offices and meet with commissioner David Stern, if time allows. She urged players to do all they could to "grow the business," including supporting the WNBA team in their new home markets. And if they are sent to the D-League, take it as a learning opportunity. A cheer went up when they learned their salaries and per diem allowances would stay the same if they were sent down.

There is a lot to think about. Charitable work is important, for instance, but Behrens warned them not to rush into starting their own foundations.

"It's not something we recommend you do right now," she told the players. "Starting up a foundation is a very complicated process, and you need to understand all of the things that are involved. More foundations go bad than go good."

In another session, players were given some basics of finance. Todd Hunter warned players of the many famous athletes who have gone broke recently.

"I don't want to hear that your dad is managing your money," he said. "Does he have experience with this kind of money? … Hire people for their expertise."

Players were advised to assemble a team of advisers, independent of one another, to pay for services as they are provided and avoid retainers.

"You all are in the 'top one percent' now," Hunter told them.

Players can put up to $15,000 a year in the league's 401K, and were urged to do so — the NBA matches 140 percent, so why pass on all the "free money?"

A group of former players helped get across the point that careers are short, and post-playing plans should be made. The average playing career is 4.7 years, players learned, and only one player in five has a college degree. Programs are available for completing college degrees, and for finding careers that don't necessarily require one.

"If you don't have a plan," said Lloyd Watson, a former player, "someone else will have a plan for you, and it will include getting up a hell of a lot earlier than you want to get up, and lifting things a hell of a lot heavier than you want to lift."

Rich Rinaldi, who played for Washington in the early 1970s, told players he once gave a speech in D.C. to a group that included Senators and successful power brokers, but instead of staying to chat, "I ran to my car and beat the traffic." It was an opportunity lost, and players were encouraged in several sessions to meet and get to know the successful CEOs who sit courtside.